Patrick Hammon and Brett Hammon already had something in common as attorneys, but now the San Jose brothers’ families are linked in a surprising way. Their wives, Courtney and Amanda, each gave birth last weekend at Kaiser San Jose about 12 hours apart.
In a scene tailor-made for a sitcom, the two brothers and their wives had rooms across the hall from each other and shared the same midwife, Lauren Vose, who had a particularly long day.
Amanda Hammon, Brett’s wife, gave birth to their daughter, Matilda Otte, at 9:42 p.m. on March 19, and Courtney Hammon, Patrick’s wife, gave birth to their son, Elliott Kennedy, at 9:36 a.m. the next morning.
“We were so excited to have this unique experience,” said Patrick Hammon, a partner with San Jose law firm McManis & Faulkner. “Courtney and I checked in about 10 hours after Brett and Amanda did — and when we did, almost every nurse in the unit knew who we were because my brother had been hyping up our arrival.”
The two brothers cross paths pretty often, actually. Brett Hammon, a deputy public defender in Santa Clara County, lives about a 15-minute walk away from Patrick in Willow Glen, and they both work downtown. They’ll meet up for lunch with their other brothers — Kevin and Cory, also both lawyers — about once a week. “Getting to link up the little ones’ stories in this way means the world to us because I am hoping the cousins will be able to have that same type of relationship,” Patrick Hammon said.
And the potential joint birthday parties should make it pretty convenient for the newborns’ paternal grandparents, Meri Maben, the longtime district director for former U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, and attorney Walter Hammon.
BLUES BENEFIT FOR UKRAINE: Bluesman J.C. Smith was touring in Russia — a goodwill gesture he’s done for the past 10 years — when the invasion of Ukraine started. Despite the urging of his wife and friends back home for him to get out of there, he continued the tour for a few days before cutting it short, visiting 12 cities and hoping to uplift people dealing with a war he said many people told him they didn’t support.
And once he was back in the U.S., he made plans to support the people helping in Ukraine with “J.C. Smith’s Yellow & Blues,” a benefit for Doctors Without Borders that will take place April 30 in-person at Tabard Theatre in downtown San Jose. The J.C. Smith Band will headline the 7 p.m. show, which also will include Legally Blue, Robert Berry and Rome Yamilov.
Tabard Theatre Company waived its rental fees for the event, so all the ticket proceeds could be donated to the cause. Community radio station KKUP and independent music store The Starving Musician are also sponsors. “We just wanted to do whatever we could to help,” said Tabard Theatre Executive Artistic Director Jonathan Williams. “Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine as they face this horrific attack.”
BEHIND THE SCENES: San Jose playwright Maribel Martínez will give an online talk on March 25 about her new play, “Becoming (MAR),” as part of Teatro Visión’s livestream series, “La Hora del Mitote.”
The bilingual production has its world premiere at the Mexican Heritage Plaza on April 7-10 and will be available streaming on demand in May. It centers around a 9-year-old girl who learns lessons about self-acceptance in some surprising ways — including encounters with an emotional tortoise and a mischievous centipede — after a school talent show goes awry.
Martínez, who works for Santa Clara County’s Division of Equity and Social Justice, has used her background as a writer and performer to help nonprofits with cultural activism projects. You can watch the 7 p.m. livestream on CreaTV Channel 30, or on Teatro Visión’s Facebook page or YouTube channel. You can get more information or purchase tickets to “Becoming (MAR)” at www.teatrovision.org.
Source: www.mercurynews.com